Fan Bonnie Johnston has started a letter-writing campaign, in hopes of increasing the chance of The Dresden Files being renewed on the SciFi Channel. Visit her website for instructions on how you can help the effort, and share your ideas on the forum here!
Author: priscellie
Priscilla Spencer has been Jim's creative consultant since 2007. In addition to managing content for Jim-Butcher.com and its social media channels, she beta-reads all of Jim's works, serves as a thematic consultant on the graphic novels and role playing games, and illustrates the maps for his books. The whole "Year of Dresden" thing is largely her baby. Her latest claim to fame is directing the official book trailers for Peace Talks and Battle Ground.
In her professional life, Priscilla is a Producer, Writer, Photographer, and Fantasy Map Illustrator working towards a career in producing TV. She enjoys musical theatre, gluten-free cooking, sci-fi/fantasy, and weightlifting. She aspires to travel the world and pet every dog.
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I’m not a huge fan of the television series, but I love Jim Butcher enough that I’ll support anything he does…
Comparing the books to the show is not fair. The books are WAYYYY better. However, on it’s own the show is good. It needs work (dialog, ditch the hockey stick for a rune-inscribed cane or something, etc), but hey how many shows are really great in their first season? I’ve already signed the petition and am hoping for another season.
Note to Jim B: The worst part about waiting for the next season is not getting any info about whether it looks good or not for another season. Please keep us fans informed! Nothing worse than getting our hopes (and emotions) up and find out that the next season was a no-go a month ago and nobody told us. Even a “Still working on it” every once-in-a-while would be nice.
I’m liking the ‘Grey Cloaks’ moniker. To be brief, we’re hooked on the show, the differences from the books make the show in some respects even more enjoyable especially for someone like me that has read each one of the books 5+ times.
I haven’t dug deeply, but the little research I did on per show ratings sure makes me nervous about Sci Fi’s ultimate decision
I did end up setting up a MySpace site for this renewal campaign as well! I just haven’t been able to post on this board since then for some reason. The site is: http://www.myspace.com/thegreycloaks
The SciFi channel is famous for ditching good shows in favor of creature features and other dreck. Their yardstick is cost per episode, so if you see something with good production values (eg., Dresden Files, Stargate SG-1, etc.) it’s probably too rich for their blood.
I have watched the Dresden Files from the 1st episode and absolutly love it! I could barely wait for the week to pass by for the next show to air! I really hope Sci-Fi keeps this great show going!
Is there a petition to stop the show? I LOVE Butcher’s work as a writer and I love the Dresden Files series, and frankly this show isn’t doing either justice. I mean yeah it’s great that he is making some money and all, but Sci Fi is murdering what’s good about Dresden with this crap. Kill the show, sell the rights to Hollywood for a film version that doesn’t suck.
I really want to love the television show more than I do. Although it pales in comparison to the novels, it could be easily improved.
Individual, self-contained, episodes may be great for casual fans, but those fans will not bring the ratings necessary to keep the show alive.
The producers should aim for the hard-core audience and consider adapting each book, presenting it as a season of the show, or at least multi-episode arcs. An extended story would allow them to delve deeper into the extended mythology of the books and allow for greater character development.
I’m enjoying both the series and the books, together and separately. For me, they compliment each other. I can understand that some things work better changed, as far as the series. This has brought us a Bob who is much more a part of things, which I’m heartily in favor of. OTOH, I’m having a hard time getting used to the series Murphy. But I can handle the little things. I guess I get different things out of each source, and enjoy both because of that. I am personally *not* in favor of a series-long story arc – you can lose a lot of prospective fans that way. And I would actually prefer original stories for the series, not remakes of the books, because that invites too much nitpicking, IMO.
I just hope there is a Season 2!
Majorly bad writing? How about some of the best? I had never heard of the books until the show but I found the show very appealing in its own right. This version of Harry, though not the book’s, is interesting and subtle enough to make for a compelling show. It doesn’t have to be like the books. In fact, I would find that kind of pointless. Why do you need two versions of the exact same thing? Inspired interpretation adds much more to my world than carbon copies.
P.S.
For those of you who like Dresden, I’d like to recommend the books of Isaac Adamson, e.g. Tokyo Suckerpunch. While not a wizardy series, this comic mystery series is very much in the flawed-hero-you-love-and-feel-sorry-for genre.
The first time I watch the show, I was a bit disappointed. However, the second time I watch it (which was immediately right after), I tried to sort of separate the book from the tv show (hard but possible), and found myself enjoying the show.
Absolutely love the books and in between new books, it’s nice to watch the tv show for my Dresden fix.
One of the few things me and hubby watch together. We are addicted to the show AND the books and would love to see it hang around, but as someone mentioned, Sci Fi’s track record for keeping good shows is lacking. But I have to have my Bob fix!!! (Paul Blackthorne is not to hard on the eyes though 😉
My husband and I are big Jim Butcher Fans. I’ve read every book he has ever written. Some time TV and movie addaptions of books have smooth transitions and better explainations than their written conunterparts. That was not the case with The Dresden Files. Don’t get me wrong. We watch every episode, but the show is kind of a let down. The scripts and special effect are mediocre. I can say that Bob on the TV version is a vast improvement and the actor playing Dresden is what I pictured Harry looking and acting like. I hope Sci-Fi renews it or better yet a Movie Version with a real special effect budget and better script writting. I’m not pushing another show but another series of books were addapted into a TV show for Lifetime (sundays). That show flows better for some reason.
I’ve been a fan of the Dresden files for a long time. I started reading right after book 3 appeared and was thrilled that they were translating Harry to the small screen. I was a little disappointed with the series at first, but grew to love it. I thought the “Storm Front” episode was by far the best. Perhaps because I knew the backstory, but it seemed to be more carefully crafted than the episodes written outside the books. The TV Murphy does still bother me, but not enough to give up on the series. I think Harry is a little older than I imagined, but otherwise pretty darned close to my image of him. I hope the series returns – it certainly was a good reason to watch TV on Sunday nights!
I am really happy to read the pro’s and con’s of the SciFi channel adaptation of the “Dresden Files.” I have read all of the books and like a few of you had my doubts. Every Sunday night I watched and kept hoping that the story lines would match a little bit more to the books, but as time has gone by I became more and more attached to the actors playing the characters that we all love. Murphy is still a bit off can’t get used to her “brown” hair, and the little bits here and there that don’t match, the hockey stick, missing overcoat and hat, and the overall look of Harry’s office/home…If they decide to bring it back my Sunday nights will be complete, and I hope it doesnt go by the way side like a few of my other favorite tv shows, like “The Surface” and “Invasion”.
So if anyone from the SciFi Channel who is peeking at these comments, PLEASE BRING IT BACK!
I love The Dresden Files and because of the show I discovered the books. I am totally addicted to both I read all 9 of the books in like a month. I know about scifi’s history with cancelling good shows but it did save Stargate after it was dropped from Showtime and went on to do what like 5 more sesaons. They are bringing back Eureka in June so I’m not giving up hope that they will learn from their mistakes of the past and definitely bring back Dresden and maybe it will be bigger and better then season 1 because of all of us fans and our input.
Watching the series here in the U.K was made problematic by the big quarrell between Virgin media and Sky t.v.Virgin media customers had Sky 1,which was screening the show,removed from their t.v package.So viewing figures over here were probably affected.Although the show didn’t match up to the books it showed promise ,and was way better than most network t.v tripe.I hope it gets another chance and better,less sentimental scriptwriters.
I really hope that the show is picked up for another season. Yes, there are some inconsistancies between the books and the tv series but that’s to be expected when switching media. But I believe that, for the most part, SciFi has done a pretty good job of pulling the vision from Mr. Butcher’s head and converting it to something that can fit in a 60 minute window. It is ridiculous to expect “the story lines would match a little bit more to the books” when I know that no one out there has read one of the books in 60 minutes while taking a several minute “commercial” break every so often.
One thing that I thought was cool was how the series progressively grows more like the books, adding monsters and visual magic, as the story goes on. It lets those who didn’t read the books first get used to some of the “stranger” aspects of Harry’s world.
Jim, if you’re reading these, it was cool to see you as an extra and also a thumbs up to the Blue Beetle salute where you see it show up on set in one episode, can’t tell me that wasn’t your doing!
I can’t believe most of these posts are to save the show! It is the worst translation from book to series I have ever seen. My 14 yr old nephew and I are reading them together and we were so excited when we saw it was being made into a TV show. We got the good junk food and settled in to watch and made it through to the 3rd commercial break before we juct couldn’t watch anymore. We felt, as fans, we’d been betrayed.
I have even tried to watch subsequent episodes but couldn’t get beyond what was missing or outright wrong. It’s not like they just adapted the concept and went their own way; they have totally bastardized these great books. The casting of the actress to play Murphy is laughable and since when does Dreden have beautiful blondes crawling out of bed with him? And don’t get me started on Bob! He’s a spirit of intellect, glittery and orange, inhabiting a human skull, not a freaking coporeal figure.
I agree with some of the other postings that Mister Dresden should go to Hollywood. At least then, maybe real fans of the series will get what they want, accuracy.
I saw the show first before reading the books, and while I agree the books are generally much better, I think the show is good too and it should continue.
Though the characters on the show have little more in common with those in the book beyond their shared names, they are good in their own right. Besides, you can’t expect the show to be like the books – one of Jim Butchers books would take an entire season of 60 minute episodes. You have to judge the show and the writers on their own merits. After all, it says right on the opening credits “based” on the novels by Jim Butcher.
One thing I do like better about the show than the books is Bob. Bob in the books is too much like Harry, while in the show he is older, smarter, and while perhaps even more of a smart ass than Dresden, a much more eloquent one. I like what the shows writers have done with him.